After a brief period of testing, the Linux Mint team has released the beta version of Linux Mint 22.2, codenamed “Zara.” Users can download the ISO images for testing directly from the official mirrors. This latest iteration introduces several noteworthy features, including fingerprint authentication, improved support for the Wayland session, and enhanced accent color options.
Linux Mint 22.2 adopts a Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernel, similar to its upstream counterpart, Ubuntu, which improves hardware compatibility. Fingerprint authentication will be available via the new Fingwit application across all supported editions. The distribution also boasts updates to the libAdwaita compatibility, theme improvements, and better input methods and keyboard layout support, particularly for the Cinnamon edition with Wayland.
The beta includes popular desktop environments such as Cinnamon 6.4.10, Xfce 4.18, and MATE 1.26. Underneath, it is based on Ubunt 24.04.3 LTS and utilizes the Linux kernel 6.14, enhancing support for newer hardware compared to the previous release, Linux Mint 22.1, which was powered by the Linux kernel 6.8.
Some important links are provided for users intending to try out this pre-release version, keeping in mind that it is not recommended for production use. An official announcement regarding this beta release is expected from the Linux Mint team early next week on their blog.
You can download the beta version of Linux Mint 22.2 “Zara” from the links below:
- Download Linux Mint 22.2 Cinnamon Beta
- Download Linux Mint 22.2 Xfce Beta
- Download Linux Mint 22.2 MATE Beta
For additional information and updates, you may follow Linux Mint’s official blog.